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9/11 Education Materials

The Pentagon Memorial Fund is dedicated to offering valuable educational resources and materials surrounding the events of September 11, 2001 and the historic significance of the Pentagon Memorial. You can search the resources by keyword, grade level, subject, or specific resource type. To expand your search results to include the Verizon Thinkfinity community, please check the Thinkfinity box within the search field.

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These lesson plans and activities were developed by the PMF Educators' Leadership Group as a companion to the Pentagon Memorial Fund documentary entitled, “A Nation Remembers,” which tells the story of the construction of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. Please click here to view "A Nation Remembers".

These lesson plans and activities focus on the ‘everyday heroes’—people who worked at the Pentagon and helped with the rescue operations, those involved as first responders, and the individuals who lost their lives as a result of the attack. These materials best complement the documentary from 45 minutes, 19 seconds through 53 minutes, 39 seconds. For the most comprehensive understanding of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial and those affected by the attack, view the documentary from 34 minutes, 59 seconds through 53 minutes, 39 seconds.

On Wednesday, August 3 and Thursday, August 4, 2011, the National Museum of American History, National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Pentagon Memorial Fund, and Flight 93 National Memorial, offered a FREE online conference, September 11: Teaching Contemporary History, for K-12 teachers. Designed to provide educators with resources and strategies for addressing the September 11 terrorist attacks, the conference included roundtable discussions with content experts and six workshop sessions. These sessions — all of which were recorded and are now available — highlight resources available at each organization, provide background information on September 11, and encourage conversations on how to document, preserve, and interpret recent history and current events.

Elaine Donovan, Pentagon Memorial Fund Board Member, participated in the roundtable discussion, "Conducting Difficult Conversations with Young People." Ms. Donovan lost her husband, CDR William H. Donovan, at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and shares her experience of discussing the tragedy with her young children. Lasting 75 minutes, this roundtable also included panelists from Voices of September 11, Carlow University, and the Fred Rogers Company.

This is Unit 8 from the September 11th Personal Stories of Transformation toolkit. Jim and Gordon lost their brothers, one in the attack on the Pentagon and one on Flight 93. Each took leadership roles in building memorials that pay tribute to the attacks on the nation and the lives lost.The full classroom resource kit contains 8 videos. Each story is accompanied by discussion questions that guide students to connect outcomes of the historic events of September 11th to the choices they make in their own lives. These materials are provided courtesy of The Tribute WTC Visitor Center. These classroom resources provide historic context, research links, and community service projects for each story.

Please click here to access the online version of the toolkit and choose Unit 8 from the "Story Selection" menu which includes Jim's and Gordon's videos. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

These lesson plans and activities were developed by the PMF Educators' Leadership Group as a companion to the Pentagon Memorial Fund documentary entitled, “A Nation Remembers,” which tells the story of the construction of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. Please click here to view the “A Nation Remembers” documentary.

These materials focus on the construction methods and symbolism found at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial as well as the family members impacted by the events on September 11, 2001 in an effort to help students understand the idea of memorialization and the importance of remembering certain events. This section of the guide best complements the documentary from 34 minutes, 59 seconds through 45 minutes, 18 seconds, with information about the architects, construction techniques, and symbolism to be found at 47 minutes, 35 seconds; 48 minutes, 40 seconds; and 49 minutes, 36 seconds respectively). For the most comprehensive understanding, the documentary should be viewed from 34 minutes, 59 seconds through 53 minutes, 39 seconds.

In this lesson, students will learn about the creation of the 9/11 Commission and review the Report’s Executive Summary and the legislation that implemented some of the recommendations. They will discuss and analyze the key findings in the report as well as the recommendations that were subsequently implemented. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

In this lesson, students will understand the concept of habeas corpus and its impact on the death penalty appeal process. They will be able to explain the impact of the legislation discussed and understand their rights as citizens to change or propose laws and the process by which such change can be accomplished legally and without violence.This lesson is provided by the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Please visit their site for additonal information.

Discussion about the events of 9/11 has the potential to inspire strong emotions and trigger intense memories for some students and educators. The challenge is complicated by the diversity of students, their respective ages, and their various associations with, and prior knowledge of, 9/11. These guidelines are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information.

The September 11 Digital Archive uses electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the history of September 11, 2001 and its aftermath. The Archive contains more than 150,000 digital items, a tally that includes more than 40,000 emails and other electronic communications, more than 40,000 first-hand stories, and more than 15,000 digital images. In September 2003, the Library of Congress accepted the Archive into its collections, an event that both ensured the Archive's long-term preservation and marked the library's first major digital acquisition.

Browse: Explore the collection for stories, images, emails, documents, sounds, and videos of September 11

This is Unit 7 from the September 11th Personal Stories of Transformation toolkit. Tsugio Ito lost his brother in the bombing of Hiroshima and his son on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. Masahiro Sasaki donated one of the origami cranes folded in 1955 by his sister, the legendary Sadako, to the Tribute WTC Visitor Center as a wish for global peace. The full classroom resource kit contains 8 videos. Each story is accompanied by discussion questions that guide students to connect outcomes of the historic events of September 11th to the choices they make in their own lives. These materials are provided courtesy of The Tribute WTC Visitor Center. These classroom resources provide historic context, research links, and community service projects for each story.

Please click here to access the online version of the toolkit and choose Unit 7 from the "Story Selection" menu which includes Susan's video. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

St. Paul's Chapel, across the street from the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, survived the 9-11 blast and served as a service depot for rescuers. During this activity, you and your child will actively read The Little Chapel That Stood, using the suggested reading strategies.

In this lesson, students will learn about the Callery Pear Tree. Although it barely survived the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero, it was relocated and continued to grow and bloom despite its rather grim state, becoming a symbol of hope. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

This is Unit 6 from the September 11th Personal Stories of Transformation toolkit.After September 11th, many Arab, South Asian and Muslim communities in America felt under attack. This community organizer worked to help them. The full classroom resource kit contains 8 videos. Each story is accompanied by discussion questions that guide students to connect outcomes of the historic events of September 11th to the choices they make in their own lives. These materials are provided courtesy of The Tribute WTC Visitor Center. These classroom resources provide historic context, research links, and community service projects for each story.

Please click here to access the online version of the toolkit and choose Unit 6 from the "Story Selection" menu which includes Mohammad Razvi's video. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

This toolkit features stories, artifacts and video from media who covered the chaos caused by the terrorist attacks from the Oklahoma City bombing to the War on Terror. These resources are provided by the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additonal information and resources.

In this activity, you and your child will look at ways artists and members of the public responded to the events of September 11, 2001. You will then use images of those responses to create a digital memorial of photographs.

In this lesson, students will view Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica. They will explore the meaning of the colors, symbols and purpose of the painting. Following that discussion, students will view and discuss various paintings in The Day Our World Changed: Children’s Art of 9/11. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

These commemorative materials focus on the many ways people chose to respond to 9/11 through art, highlighting examples of individuals and groups who used artistic channels to heal, rebuild, and make meaning in the aftermath of the attacks. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information.

In this lesson, students will understand how vital communication and team work are in the time of a crisis. They will understand the importance of training and preparedness and how federal, state, and local agencies work together in response to disasters using ICS and NIMS. This lesson is provided by the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. For additional information and for the resources, please visit their website.

This is Unit 5 from the September 11th Personal Stories of Transformation toolkit. Susan Retik is a widow from Boston who lost her husband on American Airlines Flight 11. She and another September 11th widow started an organization to aid widows in Afghanistan. The full classroom resource kit contains 8 videos. Each story is accompanied by discussion questions that guide students to connect outcomes of the historic events of September 11th to the choices they make in their own lives. These materials are provided courtesy of The Tribute WTC Visitor Center. These classroom resources provide historic context, research links, and community service projects for each story.

Please click here to access the online version of the toolkit and choose Unit5 from the "Story Selection" menu which includes Susan's video. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Hassan Abbas is a Research Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center and a former Sub-Divisional Police Chief in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

In this lesson, students will read Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey and then discuss 9/11 and its relationship to the story. Students will explore the meaning of the word hero and identify courageous traits, eventually evaluating why the fireboat’s adventures were heroic. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

This short film highlights the outpouring of compassion and volunteerism in the aftermath of September 11, as well as the commitment to service which 9/11 continues to inspire. Click here to to access the video directly.

The teaching and learning guide is also organized around the themes of community-building and volunteerism. The centerpiece, an eight-minute film, The Spirit of Volunteerism: 9/11 and Beyond, introduces people who channeled strong emotions and feelings into constructive acts of human kindness. The discussion questions and activity suggestions are designed to encourage students to work together to commemorate 9/11 by participating in acts of service. This learning and discussion guide is presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information.

In this activity, children and adults will learn about the outfit used by a firefighter on September 11, 2001. Children will then think about the ways they help in their own communities and imagine an outfit that would assist them with those jobs.

This is a classroom resource kit that contains 8 videos. Each story is accompanied by discussion questions that guide students to connect outcomes of the historic events of September 11th to the choices they make in their own lives. The Tribute WTC Visitor Center classroom resources provide historic context, research links, and community service projects for each story.

Please click hereto access the online version of the toolkit which includes the videos for each unit. Please visit their website for additional resources and information.

The lessons in this teaching guide from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum are meant to help students understand how historical records and authoritative history are written, and how they are formed from the careful and balanced combination of documentary accounts from many and varied primary sources; and that many perspectives come together to shape historical records. Please visit their website for additional information.

In this lesson, students will read the poem, The Little Chapel That Stood, and then discuss what the chapel represented to the people prior to 9/11 and the days after 9/11, in addition to their own reactions to the poem and the chapel itself. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Bruce Lawrence discusses the life and the messages of Osama bin Laden. Lawrence is Professor of Religion and Director of the Islamic Study Center at Duke University, and editor of Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

J . Alexander Thier discusses the history and population of Afghanistan, as well as the country’s changing role in both the emergence and combating of terrorism. hier is Director of the Future of Afghanistan Project at the U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington, DC, and a former legal advisor to the Afghan government. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

David Ottaway is a former foreign correspondent for the Washington Post. After 35 years with the Post, Ottaway is now a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, and author of the book, The King’s Messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sultan and America’s Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.for additional information.

Dr. Paul Lioy is a professor and the Vice Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is also the Director of Exposure Science at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute at Rutgers University and author of the book, Dust: The Inside Story of its Role in the September 11 Aftermath. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

In this lesson, students will read accounts of 9/11 from a firefighter’s point of view and then will examine 9/11 through the eyes of other emergency personnel, including firefighters, police officers and other uniformed individuals. This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Prince El Hassan bin Talal discusses peacemaking efforts in a post-9/11 world, and the international implications of acts of terrorism. Born in Amman, Jordan in 1947 to a branch of Hashemite family directly descended from the Prophet Mohammad, Prince Hassan has been deeply involved in issues of social development, human rights, and inter-religious understanding.Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Edward Berenson is a professor of History and Director of the Institute of French Studies at New York University (NYU). He also co-directs a French-American research center at NYU in partnership with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), and is a partner on a three-year study with the National September 11 Memorial & Museum researching memory and memorialization. He has edited or written seven books (two in print) on British, French, and American political and cultural history in the 19th and 20th centuries. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

The continuing impact of the attacks of September 11, 2001 on the United States and the global community will be explored through this webcast series. Investigations into and conversations about the events of 9/11 open up important questions about values, security, culture, and politics. This series was produced exclusively for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and is hosted by Clifford Chanin, Senior Program Advisor at the Memorial Museum. Guides for teaching and learning accompany every webcast interview. Please click here to view the series of webcast interviews available.

This lesson plan emphasizes the sequence of events that occurred before, during and after 9/11 to help increase students’ basic knowledge while correcting inaccuracies and misunderstandings. Although the activity centers on comprehension of this tragedy, it also encourages students to recognize the great courage exhibited on the day and during the days after 9/11 as well as evaluate how the country has changed since the attacks.This lesson is provided by the 9/11 National Day of Service and a partnership between My Good Deed and the 4 Action Initiative. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Princeton University Professor Bernard Haykel presents his views on the historical roots and future prospects of Al-Qaeda. This learning and discussion guide is presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please click here to view the webcast interview. Please visit their website for additional resources and information.

Nilufer Gole is a Professor of Sociology and Director of Studies at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Paris. Gole discusses Islam and modernization in Turkey and the challenges Turkey faces in balancing the religious and the secular. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Lawrence Wright, a New Yorker staff writer and author of Pulitzer Prize winning The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, discusses his writings about Al-Qaeda and key points in Al-Qaeda’s history. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

David Blight is a professor of American History and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, at Yale University. He discusses 9/11, memorialization, and the American identity. Please click here to view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.

Vali Nasr discusses the history, identity, and changing political role of Shi’ites in the Middle East. Please click hereto view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their websitefor additional information and resources.

Brigitte Sion is an assistant professor of religious studies at New York University. A writer, editor, and translator, Sion has studied memorials and the performance of memory. Please click hereto view the webcast interview. These materials are presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please visit their website for additional information and resources.